Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares
Description official descriptions
Legends speak somewhere in space of the mystical planet Orion. Created by the Ancients, it remains unclaimed due to a powerful Guardian that orbits the planet and keeps out intruders. These same Ancients long ago fought a war against the Antarans and banished them into another dimension. Now... long after the Ancients empire has vanished, new races take to the stars, wishing to establish their own star empires, defeat the Antarans and become... The Master of Orion.
Master of Orion II: Battle At Antares is a turn-based 4x space empire game and is the sequel to Master of Orion, reinterpreting that game from scratch. Unlike the original the game can be played single player or with other human players. The player takes the role of a ruler of one of thirteen races, while also having the extra option of creating a custom one. They must manage planet resources to build ships and facilities, improving production. Exploration of the galaxy is done via scouts and colony ships, which can establish new planets as part of the empire. Research must also be done to discover and utilize new technologies. Alien civilizations which are encountered can be negotiated with, or ships can engage in combat in a turn-based grid system. As new systems are explored, random events are triggered and strange artifacts found in orbit around unexplored planets. Wormholes can also be found which allow transport across dozens of parsecs into new star systems.
The game can be won in different ways: through conquest of all other races, being voted supreme leader of the galaxy or destruction of the Antaran race.
Spellings
- 银河霸主II：安特雷斯之战 - Simplified Chinese spelling
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Credits (DOS version)
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 81% (based on 23 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 205 ratings with 15 reviews)
The Good
Everything. good graphics, designing your own spacehips, fun battles, different alien races means different gameplay. Master of Magic colony management style.
lots of random encounters (space flux which prevents ships from travelling in space for a random amount of time, stars going supernova needing reserch points to be saved, wealthy merchants donating you money etc...) fun fun fun!
The Bad
Stupid AI, the colony autobuild is so dumb it hurts. (sometimes it decides to build trade goods instead of important buildings even though i have 70k+ credits and earning a great amount of money each turn). the diplomacy is virtually non-existant. alien races will decline a trade pact but will accept it after you offer it again after offering a reserch pact in the same conversation!
The Antarens are too easy to beat at a late stage, so even if you are going to get crushed by your enemies you can always win by destroying the Antaren homeworld. If you have a large amount of ships that need to be refitted you still have to redesign each and every one (why not change the basic design and just press a "refit to design" button?)
If you deselect Tactical Battles when starting a game by accident you'll never have a chance to change it. and you will want to change it! (as stated before, the game's AI is not exactly amazing)
The Bottom Line
Despite the evil things listed above the game is still superb and as addictive as Master of Magic and civilization (well... almost as addictive as civ ;-) )
fun. go and play it. Seriously.
Windows · by Oren Hadas (3) · 2001
Best turn-based galaxy-conquest game to date
The Good
High praise? Well deserved I would say. Master of Orion II is still on the top spot of my (very short) list of games with any real(!!) replay value.
The user interface is comfortable, graphics and sound add nicely to the overall mood, but what it really sets in front is the gameplay and the nearly infinite amount of tactics you can (must) use to win a game.
Winning with the Psilons is a piece of cake? Switch to an uncreative race and get yourself slaugthered the next few times. Can you adopt? How can the computer (great AI) grow that fast with the same race?
You will always find settings where the game is a real challenge.
The Bad
Towards the end (espacially if you are playing for a good score), the micro-management gets a bit tedious and if you finished it in one session you might feel a bit drowsy.
The Bottom Line
Turn-based space-exploration and empire-building game (fortunately not) out there. You can get it on earth.
Windows · by Zzap (56) · 2000
A classic space conquest game.
The Good
The ability to create custom races and ships definitely added to the replayabilty of this game. An improvement on the original.
The Bad
The space combat engine could have been improved. There was no terrain to mention.
The Bottom Line
An incredible game for 1996! If your a turn-based strategy buff this is a must play.
Windows · by Jeff Watts (18) · 2001
Discussion
| Subject | By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Compatibility - just use Steam | MerlynKing | May 8, 2022 |
| Has anyone witnessed the battle at Antares? | CalaisianMindthief (8172) | Oct 6, 2015 |
| Master of Orion II How to install in win7 | Dim Gri (30) | Oct 24, 2011 |
Trivia
Combat system
The whole tactical ship combat system has many similarities with the system used in Renegade Legion: Interceptor. This not is not only restricted to technical aspects. If one examines the ship graphics in Interceptor more closely, there should be a moment of déjà vu.
Development
The folks at SimTex were calling this game Master of Antares when it was in early development. Later the name was changed to Master of Orion 2 so the game would be more easily recognized by consumers as the sequel to the award-winning original.
References
- Loknar’s ship was christened as “Avenger”, exactly the same as the ship you need in X-COM to travel to Cydonia. Even the graphics are similar! Take a look at them and compare! Coincidence?
- Another coincidence with X-COM? Perhaps the similarity between "Elerium" (the alien energy source from X-COM) and the "Elerians" (the matriarchal psychic race of Moo2) is intentional?
- In another X-COM coincidence... both Master of Orion games as well as the first X-COM game have an alien race named "Silicoid", however the look of the creatures is very different between the two game series.
- The Antaran Star Fortress (when you travel to their homeworld via Dimensional Portal) is commanded by a Ship Captain. His (her?) name is Xyphys, the Antaran Warrior, and has the following abilities: "Fighter Pilot* Helmsman* Ordnance* Security* Weaponry*" as noted in the moohero.lbx archive.
- Phasers, food replicators, transporters, federation type government, the human leader being bald, charismatic and democratic and a few of the ship designs may be references to Star Trek:The Next Generation.
Awards
- Origin Awards
- 1996 - Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game
Information also contributed by Chris Martin, Dum Gri, lilalurl, NGC 5194, PCGamer77, Technocrat and WildKard.
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Related Sites +
-
MOO2MOD
unofficial website with MOO2 fan patch (1.50) -
Master of Orion II Home Page
A Microprose Space resource management game. Lists race characteristics, improvements, technology and has a poll. -
Master of Orion II Online
Fansite with blog, DOSBox guide and a comprehensive mod list (English) -
MicroProse Games: Master of Orion II
official page of the game at the MicroProse website, archived copy from 1996 by the Wayback Machine -
The Orion Nebula Forum
Fan forum about multiplayer and the unofficial 1.4 patch (English)
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Tomer Gabel.
Macintosh added by Terok Nor.
Additional contributors: PCGamer77, Kalirion, David Ledgard, CaesarZX, Patrick Bregger, Dim Gri, MrFlibble, J D.
Game added August 4, 1999. Last modified January 31, 2024.